What was meant to be just a day of volunteering for an Edinburgh worker at an animal adoption centre, soon turned into a promising future for a stray kitten.
42-year-old Kenneth Lennon, who works as a customer experience agent at Edinburgh-based People’s Postcode Lottery, fell in love with kitten, Layla from Cats Protection’s adoption centre in Glasgow, after spending a day volunteering there.
The charity is one of many supported by the lottery’s players, with team members getting to spend two days of their annual working hours volunteering at nearby good causes.
The black-and-white kitten born to a stray mum has been the perfect addition to the family for animal lover Kenneth, and a much-needed companion for Kenneth’s other cat, Bill.
Kenneth said: “After volunteering for a day at the centre through my role at People’s Postcode Lottery, I knew that I wanted to rehome a cat from there. The team is so knowledgeable and clearly dedicated to what they do.
“I got my Bill and his sister Bonnie as kittens 12 years ago. Sadly, we recently lost Bonnie, and while I know many cats are perfectly happy being on their own, Bill does seem to enjoy the company of other cats. Since we moved to a house with a bigger garden, I often see him following the neighbouring cats around, so I had a feeling he would take well to having a new cat in the house.”
“We met Layla virtually and decided straight away that we wanted to adopt her,” added Kenneth. “We had been thinking of naming her Luna but as I’m a big fan of Eric Clapton, and his song of the same name, we decided to keep her name as it was.”
While Bill did not immediately take to the new arrival, following advice from the centre team about how to manage gradual introductions, the two are now happily playing together and sleeping close to one another.
“I think having Layla around has given Bill a new lease of life as he’s not played this much in ages. They’re like two peas in a pod!” Kenneth said.
Players of People’s Postcode Lottery have raised over £3.5 million for Cats Protection. To find out more about how players are supporting the charity, click here: https://www.postcodelottery.co.uk/good-causes/charities/cats-protection
For details of cats in need of homes visit the centre’s website at www.org.uk/glasgowac.